Jackets roll

A 60-year rivalry between Pineville and Williamsburg ended last week with the Yellow Jackets breaking ties as winners 39-15, winning their fourth straight game.
The two teams, who have played each other every year for six decades, won’t square off again in the near future. Both coaches say scheduling conflicts brought on by the Kentucky High School Athletics Association’s realignment of football districts next season.
Playing like it was their last chance to beat the Jackets, Pineville gambled early, going for an onside kick to start the game, which they did not recover, then rolled the dice at midfield on a fourth down and three to go play that came up short. Their first play from scrimmage was a planned double-reverse that went awry when the Pineville quarterback Zach Churchwell fumbled the snap and the Yellow Jackets recovered.
The risky plays led to two Williamsburg scores, setting them up with great field position on two first quarter drives.
“That’s the way I like to play football,” said Pineville head coach Bart Elam. “We took chances … I like to have fun and air it out and gamble. If we would have executed on those plays, that stuff wouldn’t have happened.”
Only 16 yard from the endzone to start the team’s first scoring drive, Williamsburg quarterback Thomas Frazier connected with junior wide receiver Will Moses for a seven-yard touchdown toss.
With 5:27 to play in the first quarter, Frazier engineered a drive capped by a four-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
“He made some pretty gunslinger moves early on, I thought,” said Williamsburg head coach Jerry Herron. “I was surprised, but I don’t blame him. There’s times when we have to take them too.”
With 7:25 to play before halftime, Frazier hooked up with Moses again for a 54-yard touchdown pass to make it a 20-0 lead. Pineville would narrow the advantage with a scoring drive before halftime to make it 20-7, but Williamsburg spread the margin in the third quarter on a touchdown run by Frazier and a 15-yard scoring catch by Moses to make it 33-7. Between the scoring drives, Williamsburg stuffed the Mountain Lions on just three yards from a score, showing some of stingy defense that has allowed only three touchdowns since their season opener.
With 7:03 to go, Pineville broke free on a long touchdown strike, but the Jackets hit the board again less than a minute later when senior fullback Aaron Root caught a pass from Frazier and raced 48 yards to score.
Offensively, the Jackets dominated. Frazier was 14 of 30 passing for 290 yards and four touchdowns. The Yellow Jackets had 303 yards passing and 149 on the ground for a total of 452.
On his own, Root had 110 rushing yards on nine carries.
Herron said that while his team did well in their district opener, penalties were crippling.
“We just have to work on not making silly mistakes,” Herron said. “We missed a few passes we should have gotten tonight too. That’s just a timing issue. We will work on that this week.”
With defending district champion Somerset set to play the Yellow Jackets on their home field this Friday, Herron said the offense may be a bit more hard pressed to make plays they are used to making.
“They are the champs for a reason,” he said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. They are going to be quicker and more athletic on defense than what we’ve seen so far. If our players and coaches can handle adversity, we will be ready to go.”